Help Desk: What size to make a presentation poster

What size poster should I make?

Before you download a template or create a research poster from scratch you'll have to know what size poster you need. Each conference publishes poster session guidelines indicating the space they are making available for poster presentations. You would need to follow their instructions or you may end up with a poster that is too big or too small for the available space.

It is common for conferences in the United States to provide a 4x8 foot space (48x96 inches) to the attendees, but not always, so be careful. Conferences outside the US most often provide smaller spaces and ask for vertical scientific posters (tall and narrow) in metric measurements.

To determine what size is best for your poster presentation you should look at the amount of information you want to present. Will your poster be mostly text, or a combination of text, graphs, charts, tables, and photos? Most likely, your presentation is going to be a mix of all of the above.

Look at your source document(s). How many pages of text do you have? Assuming that you want to include pictures, tables, etc. in your poster, the table below offers a general idea of what size poster you may be able to create without having to make the text too small or too big. Please remember that this is a VERY general guide.